Christopher Welsh junior (left) at his wedding in Mexico with his dad Christopher Welsh senior

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A drugs lord who modelled himself on a Colombian cocaine baron and orchestrated a £200m cross-border cartel was today behind bars.

Christopher Welsh Jnr, 34, enlisted a gang of crooks to pull off the massive heroin and cocaine racket between Liverpool and Glasgow.

Welsh, whose nickname Pablo was a reference to the notorious kingpin Escobar, was among the top tier of a gang jailed for just under 120 years.

A top judge yesterday branded Welsh – and his drug lord dad, Christopher senior – as being “in pursuit of an extravagant lifestyle,’ telling how they trafficked vast amounts of top-grade drugs in “a desire for wealth and the good life”.

Welsh, who was jailed for 16 years and eight months, enjoyed regular holidays in Mexico, Spain, Holland, Greece and the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh.

The crimelord’s spending power was such that he blew £57,000 in cash to fly 40 friends and family to Cancun for his no-expense-spared wedding in June 2011.

Pictures obtained by the ECHO show pals in Mexico wearing T-shirts emblazoned with “Pablo’s stag do”.

"Pablo's" stag do

DS Jason Hudson from Titan, the regional crime unit that snared the gang, said: “It is almost drawing attention to himself. He obviously thought he was Pablo Escobar and untouchable.

“It was a lavish trip and they had the stag do when they were there at the same time.

“If you haven't worked and you don't have a job what sort of message does it send out when you can afford to pay for 40 of your friends and family to go on such a trip?

“The only way he could afford that trip was through high levels of drug dealing. He's laughing in the picture but he's not laughing now.”

Titan has already seized luxury Rolex and Tag Heuer watches and jewellery from the gang. And now they are examining their assets, including a caravan owned by Welsh Jnr in Gronant, Wales.

But the vast majority of the 30-strong crime gang, who will be jailed through the course of the week, did not reap significant financial rewards.

Many were claiming benefits and some were coerced into storing drugs or acting as couriers to settle debts.

Liverpool crown court heard how the Welshs, and right-hand-man Mark Shields, 45, controlled a network of drugs “warehousemen” in Kirkdale, Walton and Everton and drug-runners who made 111 trips to Glasgow in a year.

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Police made a number of seizures in that time – recovering 32 kilograms of Class A drugs and 105 kilograms of mixing agent with a street value of just under £12m.

But the 111 trips, using both road and rail, are believed to have involved shipping up to two kilograms of drugs at a time, putting the potential street value between £100m and £200m.

Often the gang would use the rail network to avoid detection – with one courier, Liam Clotworthy, 30, deceptively opting to dress smartly and mingle with passengers.

Clotworthy, of Saxony Road, Kensington, travelled to Glasgow 18 times and was arrested making his 19th trip in October last year.

The gang, mainly based in north Liverpool, were rounded up in raids in October.

When police raided one flat in Patmos Close, Everton, which was being used as a safe house, Colin Harrison, 60, launched a briefcase out the window. It burst open and was found to contain 2.76kg of heroin.

The scale of the operation was illustrated by the discovery of a 10 tonne press and moulds at one gang member’s home in Orry Street, Everton, used to package and compact heroin powder into professional solid blocks.

Handing down the sentences, Judge Aubrey described the conspiracy as “a highly sophisticated, efficient and lucrative business.”

He told the top-tier of nine defendants: “Profit, for many of you, was your goal. The conspiracy was well-planned and well-executed. It was driven by many of you through a desire for wealth and the good life.”

DS Hudson added: “I am pleased to say that there will be no more fancy holidays abroad for these individuals as they face many, many years in prison for what they have done.”

Nine of 30-strong gang jailed for part in cartel

THE first nine of 30 defendants set to be caged for the massive drugs plot were jailed for a total of nearly 120 years.